Maxence Léonard and his raw melancholy

Le Regard Libre N° 52 (forthcoming) - Jonas Follonier

He is one of the most promising young talents on the French-speaking music scene in French-speaking Switzerland. An insatiable multi-instrumentalist, Maxence Léonard follows a singular vein of folk, progressive rock, French chanson and experimental music. His Circus was released on April 12 and, in addition to his dates in Switzerland, the singer-songwriter gave a series of concerts in Munich from May 22 to 27, 2019. Meet the UFO at the end of his May 18 concert at Lausanne's Faux Nez.

Le Regard LibreAs a multi-instrumentalist, what was your musical background?

Maxence Léonard: I started playing the cello when I was about five, and I still do. There was a time when I wanted to make a professional career out of it, so the cello means a lot to me. I went on to other things, this time self-taught: I taught myself to play the piano and guitar. It was only recently that I got into synthesizers and electronic pianos. It's a world I didn't know much about. I had a lot of fun turning knobs and testing out what sounded good and what didn't. It's a world I didn't know much about.

Read also | s e l e n n, a UFO on the music scene for young french-speaking artists

How do you go from classical to folk-rock?

It was when I was around thirteen that I discovered rock in the broadest sense of the term, more in the Anglo-Saxon world than in the French-speaking world. I listened to a lot of that music, and that's when I decided I didn't want to do just classical music. I wanted to mix the two.

What are your favourite bands?

First, Jack White, with the White Stripes and all his other projects. The progressive metal band System of a Down, too. Which also got me interested in Armenian music, in particular. As for the French-speaking horizon, Noir Désir and Damien Saez. They're the only two French bands or singers I've listened to a lot.

And it shows in your singing style!

I'm often told that. I'd also like to mention the whole folk and blues vein of the Anglo-Saxons, with Bob Dylan, Nick Cave and so on.

Read also | Morgoran, the Bob Dylan of French-speaking Switzerland

Yet you sing in French. Why didn't you follow the English trend?

It's the language in which I can totally say what I want to say. I know that if I want to say something in English, I'll need to simplify or get a dictionary. It's a hindrance to creativity and authenticity. On the other hand, if one day I were to live in England and be bilingual, there's a good chance I'd write songs in English.

There's a phrasing challenge when you write rock in French, isn't there?

Yes, absolutely. For my part, I wanted to get away from what I'd been listening to with Noir Désir, by taking a leaf out of the book of Noir Désir's singing style. songwriters we mentioned earlier.

To read the rest of the interview, pre-order a copy of our print edition, due out in mid-July, via this link!

Maxence Léonard will perform on Friday, July 5 at The Derivative Yverdon, 8:30pm.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Myriam Hansen